Telegram, a messaging app, stated that Pavel Durov, its CEO, has “nothing to hide” after being arrested in France on Saturday.
Officials said that Mr. Durov was detained on a warrant for offenses connected to the app at an airport north of Paris.
The investigation appears to focus on claims of insufficient moderation, with Mr. Durov being accused of not taking adequate steps to prevent criminal use of Telegram. The app has been accused of failing to cooperate with law enforcement in cases involving drug trafficking, child exploitation, and fraud.
In a statement, Telegram emphasized that “its moderation practices are in line with industry standards and are continuously improving.”
“It is unreasonable to hold a platform or its owner responsible for the misuse of that platform,” the app stated.
Telegram stated that Mr. Durov frequently travels across Europe and emphasized that the company complies with European Union regulations, including the Digital Services Act, which aims to create a safe and responsible online environment.
“Telegram is used by nearly a billion people worldwide for communication and accessing vital information,” the app’s statement said.
“We’re hoping for a swift resolution to this situation. Telegram stands with all of you.”
According to judicial sources cited by AFP news agency, Mr. Durov’s detention was extended on Sunday and could last up to 96 hours.
Pavel Durov, 39, was born in Russia and currently resides in Dubai, where Telegram is headquartered. He holds citizenship in both the United Arab Emirates and France.
Telegram enjoys significant popularity in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet Union states.
The app was banned in Russia in 2018 after Durov refused to provide user data, but the ban was lifted in 2021.
Telegram is now ranked among the major social media platforms, following Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Mr. Durov founded Telegram in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing government demands to shut down opposition groups on his VKontakte social media platform, which he later sold.
Despite Mr. Durov’s departure, Russia still considers him a Russian citizen.
The Russian foreign ministry stated that the Russian embassy in France “immediately took the necessary steps to clarify the situation involving the Russian citizen, even though no request had been made by the businessman’s representatives.
The embassy stated that it was working to “clarify the reasons for the detention and ensure the protection of Mr. Durov’s rights, as well as facilitate consular access.”
It also noted that French authorities had not been cooperating with Russian officials.
Speaking on Telegram, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova questioned whether Western human rights organizations would remain silent about Mr. Durov’s detention following their criticism of Russia for attempting to “create obstacles” to Telegram’s operations in the country in 2018.
Telegram allows groups with up to 200,000 members, which critics argue can facilitate the spread of misinformation and enable the sharing of conspiracist, neo-Nazi, pedophilic, or terror-related content.
In the UK, the app came under scrutiny for hosting far-right channels that played a key role in organizing recent violent disorder in English cities.
While Telegram did remove some groups, cybersecurity experts point out that its system for moderating extremist and illegal content is much weaker compared to other social media platforms and messaging apps.